16. Farin Urlaub – Am Ende der Sonne (2005)And, once again, we have the album that probably no-one is interested in. Some people might remember from my first list that I absolutely love the German rock band die ärzte, mainly for their humorous yet deep lyrics and their catchy melodies. Farin Urlaub (which, in German, sounds like Fahr in Urlaub, which translates to Go on Vacation, a name that Urlaub chose for himself as an artist name due to his passion for travelling) is the guitarist and main songwriter of die ärzte, and Am Ende der Sonne (which translates to At the Sun's End) is his second solo album. It's a true solo album, with Urlaub playing all the guitars, drums and bass guitars – the only guest contributions here are the brief brass passages over this album. This album is darker than its predecessor, and, indeed, darker than most of what die ärzte have done, but the seriousness works very well, and there's still plenty of humour here, like in the track Dusche (Shower), in which Urlaub sings about how his household items have gone insane and try to murder him, making the shower the only safe place, in the hidden track Noch Einmal (Once Again), in which Urlaub sings from the perspective of masochist speaking to his lover or in the track Wie ich den Marilyn-Manson-Ähnlichkeitswettbewerb verlor (How I Lost the Marilyn-Manson-Similarity-Competition), in which Urlaub excuses himself for not being like Marilyn Manson. This is a very guitar driven album and Urlaub shows that he is a capable guitar player, even though he is no shredder – he writes interesting riffs and melodies, and when he does solo, it's almost always great, like in the semi-title track Sonne (Sun). I doubt that this album will appeal to the majority of those reading, simply because the lyrics are a large reason for how entertaining this album, but still – if you're interested, do check it out.
Favourite tracks: Sonne (Sun), Porzellan (Porcelain), Unter Wasser (Under Water), Apokalypse wann anders (Apocalypse Another Day), Immer noch (Still), Alle dasselbe (All the Same), Noch Einmal (Once Again)